page_title: 1882 United States House of Representatives elections
section_title: Election summaries
hierarchical_section_title: 1882 United States House of Representatives elections / Election summaries
caption_attribution_description: Summary of party change of U.S. house seats in the 1882 House election. Stripes indicate a tie between the gains of two or more parties. Legend: &#160;&#160; 6+ Democratic seat pickup &#160;&#160; 3-5 Democratic seat pickup &#160;&#160; 1-2 Democratic seat pickup &#160;&#160; 1-2 Republican seat pickup &#160;&#160; 3-5 Republican seat pickup &#160;&#160; 6+ Republican seat pickup &#160;&#160; 1-2 Independent seat pickup &#160;&#160; 3-5 Readjuster seat pickup &#160;&#160; 1-2 Greenback seat pickup &#160;&#160; 3-5 Greenback seat pickup Note: years ending in 2 may have inconsistent results due to redistricting.
context_page_description: Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in 1882 for the 48th Congress, during President Chester A. Arthur's term.
  Arthur's Republican Party was badly defeated, losing its majority to the opposition Democratic Party after a campaign that focused on the resistance of Republican leaders to reforming the Spoils system under which government jobs were handed to supporters of winning candidates. After the election, Arthur agreed with the Democrats to pass the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing a professional civil service. However, his actions were too late, as the image of the Republican Party as corrupt was already engrained in the minds of voters. This election also saw the decline of the pro-paper money Greenback Party, and the pick up of several Virginian seats by the Readjuster Party which promoted fiscal responsibility and shunned elitism, though the Virginia-based Readjuster Party all but disappeared following this election.
context_section_description: Following the 1880 Census, 32 new seats were apportioned. Three States lost 1 seat each, 13 States had no change in apportionment, 14 States gained 1 seat each, 6 States gained 2 seats, 1 State gained 4 seats, and 1 State gained 5 seats. Several States that gained one or more seats did not redistrict immediately, electing the new members at-large, while one state (Maine) which lost a member also delayed redistricting, electing all of its members at-large for this Congress only.
  There were 8 members elected from third parties, 4 from the Virginia-based Readjuster Party, 2 from the declining Greenback Party, and 2 Independents. The previous election of 1880 had had 10 Greenbacks and 1 Independent.
caption: Net gain in party representation    6+ Democratic gain     6+ Republican gain    3-5 Democratic gain   3-5 Readjuster gain   3-5 Republican gain    1-2 Democratic gain   1-2 Independent gain   1-2 Republican gain    no net change
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